"Chal, aa gaye Dream Heights Residency." Vicky told Shehnaaz, turning towards the building and asking the watchman to open up. The duo were guided to a subtly decorated lawn with minimal people.

"Excuse me!" She asked a girl who was passing by when she couldn't find Sidharth there.

"Hum birthday cake aur cupcakes deliver karne aaye hai. Where's-" She mentioned.

"Aao mai batati hu kaha rakhna hai. Mai box aap se le leti but you see maine abhi abhi nail paint lagaya hai!" The girl replied and laughed a little.

"It's our job!" Shehnaaz smiled following her in.

"Payment ho gayi hai kya? Actually mai khud kal aayi hu apni Nani ke birthday ke liye, so I don't know much about the arrangements. Aisa nahi hai ke mujhe kuch bhi nahi pata, just that mere semesters kal hi khatam huye toh planning sari bade logon ne ki." The girl kept on talking.

"Payment ho gayi hai, uski tension na lo." Shehnaaz simply replied.

"Okay. Oh, so silly of me. Maine apna intro toh diya nahi. I'm Akriti Singhal aur ye meri mausi ka ghar hai. Aur vo ja rahe hai mere Mama, OH MAMA!" The girl called for her uncle.

"Ha? Oh hi Shehnaaz!" Sidharth joined them.

"Aap jante ho inko? Inhone toh bataya nahi?" Akriti turned to Shehnaaz.

"Hi, actually mujhe laga sab busy hai toh…" Shehnaaz's words trailed off with that whereas she was actually waiting for Akriti to let her speak so that she could ask for Sidharth.

"Arey nahi, mai bas bahar hi aa raha tha. Anyways, thanks." He thanked her, taking the bigger box from her.

"You guys know each other?" Akriti spoke again.

"Yeah, she's a friend Shehnaaz and she's my niece Akriti." Sidharth smiled, answering his niece and introducing them.

"Ha, bataya isne abhi." Shehnaaz nodded and followed him towards a table, when she suddenly slipped on the misty grass.

"Ow!" She shrieked afraid she'd ruin the cupcakes.

"Gotcha!" Akriti held her hand and steadied her up.

"Check karna, cupcakes kharab toh nahi huye?" She nervously asked Akriti to open the box.

"Are you okay?" Sidharth asked.

"Aapko lagi toh nahi? Cupcakes thik hai." The girl asked her back simultaneously.

"I'm okay." Shehnaaz nodded, however her foot hurt because it got twisted unexpectedly and she couldn't walk straight.

"Mama, aap ruko inke sath mai chair leke aati hu." Akriti suggested and left to grab a chair.

"I don't think you're okay. Tera pao mud gaya tha, maine dekha." He mentioned making her sit and then asking a househelp to get him a relief spray.

"Sidharth, mat kar. Tere ghar pe party shuru hone vali hai!" She said, noticing the incident came out to be a head turner and now some people were watching them intactly.

"Shoes khol." He told her, ignoring her words.

"Zarurat nahi hai Sidharth, mai na Vicky ke sath aayi hu. Usko bula leti hu. Please don't bother." She replied when it looked like he was himself going to put the spray on her foot.

"Chale jana, bas spray laga le. Moch aa sakti hai." He was worried, she could see that and it made her heart smile while he excused himself when his sister called for him.

"Ek minute me aaya mai." He excused himself.

She obliged by opening her shoe and taking the spray from him to apply and massage a little bit and then asked Vicky to come and get her.

However, the few eyes on her were making her uncomfortable and this was the reason she wished to leave as soon as possible.

"Pani." Akriti gave her company and a glass of water.

"Thank you, ab mai chalti hu. Vicky aa gaya." She stood up once she emptied the glass.

"Kya ho gaya? Ek pao pe kyu khadi hai?" Vicky asked.

"Unko langdi khelna hai? Samajh nahi aa raha, pao mud gaya hai!" Akriti answered before Shehnaaz could.

Vicky was taken aback at the outrageous nature he just witnessed and nodded, helping Shehnaaz to walk.

"Haaye!" She hissed, the foot was probably hurt beyond what she had thought.

"Tujhe humesha idhar udhar lagti rehti hai! Dekh ab, chal bhi nahi pa rahi hai!" Vicky scolded her, keeping his volume down to reach her ears.

"Yaar, ghaas geeli thi, mai fisal gayi." She mumbled in response and gripped his shoulders for better support. Like a younger brother that the boy was, she didn't rebuke him for scolding her.

"Shehnaaz!" Sidharth hurriedly came, surprised that she was already leaving without letting him know.

"Chalne me itni takleef ho rahi hai toh kyu ja rahi hai? Sit for a while and relax! I'll drop you home later on." He said.

"Arey nahi, thik hu yaar mai. Thoda sa dard hai bas. Tu jaa!" she replied, being blunt enough so that the issue wouldn't bother the party.

The people staring at her were probably his extended family who weren't pleased to see a common delivery girl like her was getting treated like someone close. She felt like she was disturbing their aristocratic gathering with her presence, their mere looks were enough to get the hint and leave. Even though the vibes she received from Sidharth were so good and different from them, he had never looked at her from top to bottom, comparing their status nor behaved like a patrician.

"Kya ho gaya hai tujhe?!" On the other hand, Sidharth couldn't fathom why she was being so difficult today when she herself knew she needed help.

"Vicky isko hospital leke ja. Yaha paas me ek Patil healthcare center hai, waha ek ache orthopedic baith te hai." He told the boy.

"Thik hai, mai bhi yahi soch raha tha." Vicky agreed with him.

"Kya thik hai? Bakery chal chup chap!" She retorted.

"Nahi, tu pao zameen pe rakhte hi rone lag rahi hai. I believe we should see a doctor." Vicky tried to make her understand and she unwillingly settled down to at least get out of that place.

"Teri MBBS kis kaam ki jab mujhe doctor ke paas jana pad raha hai?" She complained when Vicky drove them towards the nearby hospital.

"Abhi 2nd year me hu mai yaar, kya pagal jaisi baatein kar rahi hai?" Vicky chuckled, brushing her off and dragging her into emergency unit because she kept insisting that she didn't need a medical checkup for a stupid ankle twist.

While they were about to see the doctor, her phone chimed with Sidharth's name on it. "Konse doctor baithe hai emergency me?" He asked as soon as she picked up.

"Mujhe nahi pata!" She replied.

"Sir, Dr. Rastogi hai filhaal on duty. Abhi andar bulaya hai, hum aa kar batate hai." Vicky took her phone and replied to his question.

"Okay Vicky. Umm, baad me batana doctor ne kya bola." Sidharth said.

"Sure." Vicky hung up with that.

"Phone!" Shehnaaz almost snatched her device back from the boy with a grumpy face and went inside the cabin.

"Swelling dikh rahi hai aur aapne bataya dard bhi ho raha hai. Thoda pao ghuma kar dekhiye?" The doctor began to examine his patient's foot.

"Nahi ban raha ghumate. Nahi ghum raha!" Shehnaaz replied, experiencing pain while trying to do so.

"Okay. Yaha dard ho raha hai?" The doctor bent down and pressed certain points gently to examine further.

"Ha! Ha!" She almost cried when he barely thumbed her ankle.

"Hmm, it's a torn ligament I assume. Achanak se pao mud jane par hota hai, fracture nahi hai, ghabraiye mat." He concluded then.

"Mai chal sakti hu na?" She doubtfully asked.

"Ha, aram se chaliyega aur pao pe zor mat dena. Baki ghar ja kar bandage laga lo taki swelling na badhe aur ice pack dard me kaam aayega." The doctor advised.

"Sure, thank you doctor!" Vicky replied, helping her out again.

"Meri cycle toh bakery me hai." She mentioned once Vicky dropped her home.

"Abhi mujhe late ho raha hai college ke liye, tu aram kar chupchap aur ha! Vo Sidharth sir ko call kar lena." He replied before turning his bike around.

"Sidharth sir!" She mimicked him while waking into her humble abode. It was such a tiring day because of her silly and clumsy nature, if she wouldn't have slipped, everything would have been just fine but when they say there's a reason behind everything. She realized if she wouldn't have slipped she wouldn't have known that there are people who really care for her and Sidharth had become one of them after Vicky and Mary.

She took a deep breath to sound fresh and good before calling Sidharth back.

"Hey, how are you doing now?" He asked.

"Good! Fracture nahi hai, it's a torn ligament." She informed him.

"Okay." He replied, walking out from the gathering to talk in private.

"Ha, swelling aur dard ke liye bataya doctor ne kya karna hai." She told him even though he didn't ask.

"Hmm." He hummed, acknowledging the same.

"Party chal rahi hai?" She casually asked, trying to make a conversation because he wasn't willing to make one.

"Ha." He replied and that was it.

"Cake acha laga sabko? Cupcakes?" She asked for a review then.

"Both were good, light on sugar." He answered as simply as he could.

"Sidharth, waha teri party me na sabka dhyan meri pao pe ja raha tha. I felt, I mean thoda self conscious lagne laga. Mujhe scene nahi banana tha, isliye mai waha se jana chahti thi." She told him.

"Okay." He still kept replying in the same manner.

"Tujhe bura laga na, maine jaise baat ki tujhe uss wajah se." She further tried to justify.

"Maine kuch bola tujhe?" He asked her back.

"Toh tu normally baat bhi toh nahi karra! Come on Sidharth! Mera point bhi samajh." She still insisted.

"Hmm." He replied, trying to think either way.

"Thik hai phir, mujhe khana banana hai. Bye!" She sighed realizing she might have upset him with her behaviour.

"Take care, bye." He replied.

"Mujhe laga tha is baar bhi 'hmm' bolega!" She chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, 10 chaps already? Well, I guess this one marks a lot of things and I would let it on all of you guys to notice.

Sidharth was sweet, his reaction is everything we would expect from a friend, isn't it? 😍🥺

But Shehnaaz's point of view was somewhere more practical. Agree?
~~~

Also, there's a small note.
I'll be leaving for my cousin's place tomorrow for Rakshabandhan and I'll be back on the 12th. So I'm for a couple of days leave from you all, Happy Rakshabandhan in advance to all who are celebrating! ✨ And yeah, I promise, I'll compensate for the days I won't be able to post.